I haven’t watched Cooking Channel much at all, but a commercial for Cutthroat Kitchen caught my eye.

Host Alton Brown is always good for a laugh.

If you haven’t seen the show, four professional chefs compete in cooking challenges while Alton Brown sabotages them.

But there’s a catch.

He actually gives each chef money at the beginning of the game so that they can bid to sabotage each other, making the timed competition even more challenging. The eventual winner keeps whatever money he has left at the end of the game.

As the episode comes to an end, I realize it’s not for me.

It reminds me too much of hazing…or those degrading initiation days that some of my high school clubs subjected new members to freshman year. The folks in charge are laughing, but it’s more mean-spirited than funny.